Mazinger in Popular Culture
The Mazinger franchise has been referenced in several media for its popularity and influence on modern culture. Real Life *The Rocket Punch, signature move of the Mazinger Z and its variations; has become a common move in manga, anime, and toys (especially of the mecha genre). However the mecha tokusatsu series "Giant Robo''"' featured the villain '''GR-2 who also possessed this ability predating Mazinger Z **The Drill Missile was also introduced in Mazinger Z, but was made famous by Getter Robo. *A statue of the Mazinger Z was made for a suburb called "Mas del Plata" at the end of the 1970s in Catalonia, Spain. While the suburb was never finished the statue remains. * The M35 Gun Trucks were nicknamed "Mazingers" based on the titular robot. * A racehorse named Kabutoshiro was named after Koji and Shiro Kabuto. * The Music Album Cosmic Cleavage from Busdriver shows Aphrodite A firing off her Oppai Missiles. * Lupe Fiasco's song Mazinger uses the original anime theme song as well as translated lines from the anime. * The card game Valhalla Gates has a bunch of card monsters that are based off of Dynamic Pro's mechs and characters. * Professional Panamanian soccer player Roman Torres has the nickname 'El Mazinger' based on the titular robot. * A statue of Mazinger Z was placed on display of Iyotetsu Minara station as the stationmaster. * The insurance company Manulife streamed a web commercial Mazinger Kachō ~Second Life e Mazin-go!~ promoting its Mirai no Tabi campaign with Mazinger Z (known as Mazinger Kachō) as the company's section manager who goes into retirement to start a new life with his wife.Mazinger Kachō ~Second Life e Mazin-go!~ * In an fake ad by Mike Diva, a recolored model of the Mazinkaiser SKL was used as the mecha body for a bust of Donald Trump.Japanese Donald Trump Commercial Dynamic Productions As one of Dynamic Productions most famous franchises, Mazinger characters and mecha have appeared in cameos and as reference in the company's other series. *A girl resembling Sayaka Yumi appeared in the later episodes of the original Devilman anime on a few occasions in large group shots. *Akira Fudo in the crossover manga Getter Robo vs. Devilman stated that he and Miki Makimura should visit Mazinger Z. *In the Getter Robo manga, a Mechasaurus called Doba has a striking resemblance to the Mazinger Z, Shin Getter Robo vs. Neo Getter Robo takes the similarities further by giving it similar attacks to the mecha. *An injured boy that looked like Shiro Kabuto appeared in episode 15 of Getter Robo. *The manga Iron Muscle featured Boss Borot as a competitor. *Violence Jack featured many characters from Dynamic Pro. including Mazinger: **The manga versions of Tetsuya Tsurugi and Jun Hono appeared where Jun attempted to avenge Tetsuya's death by a biker gang called "Hell's Wind". **An arc based on Mazinger Z featured the robots as adult martial artists and the pilots as children, eventually getting into a turf war with Count Brocken and his men. **In the Iron Muscle arc Boss Borot appears in a cameo. *New Cutie Honey features several references to Mazinger Z: **A bust of the Mazinger Z is in Honey's room. **A character resembling Sayaka Yumi appears in several scenes. **Danbei Hayami courtesy of his cybernetics uses several attacks used by the main robots of the franchise. **Honey disguises herself as Koji Kabuto. **The Gamia Q appear as assassins dressed in ninja costumes during an episode. **Juzo Kabuto appears in opening sequence for the second half the series. *'Cutie Honey Flash' features a few members of Panther Claw that are based on some characters in the Mazinger franchise like Gordon Claw (based on Archduke Gorgon), Freddy Claw (based on Dr. Hell and Count Brocken), and Scud Panther (based on Marquis Janus). *The [[Devilman|'Devilman Lady']] anime featured the villain Andrus painting an incomplete model of the Mazinger Z. ** The title character's Devil Beam attack also performs similar to the Thunder Break. *In the manga of Devilman Lady, a toy shop is seen selling several Mazinger toys. *'Cutey Honey: Tennyo Densetsu' features Honey in a new form called Mazinger Honey where Cutey Honey creates a 3-meter sized robot similar to Mazinger Z while her torso is located on top of the head where she controls the robot with levers. *Re: Cutie Honey features several character cameos of characters from Dynamic Pro. including Koji, Sayaka, and Boss. **Two key members of Panther Claw have some similarities with the Mazinger franchise: ***Gold Claw's most powerful attack references the Oppai Missile System. ***Black Claw bears a similar design to Baron Ashura, with its sides being a male and female as well as a uniform resembling Count Brocken. *In the Demon Lord Dante anime, the combat plane Dante used to fight God in the past is visually similar to the Hover Pilder in Mazinger Z. *The main character of Kotetsushin Jeeg, Kenji Kusanagi's name comes from some of the kanji from Tetsuya Tsurugi and Koji Kabuto's names. **A character resembling Koji also appears in the crowd of people during the thirteenth episode. *The secondary antagonist of Cutie Honey a Go Go is named Dr. Laurence Hell, Dr. Hell for short. *'Dororon Enma-kun Meramera' featured a few references to Mazinger: **A character resembling Baron Ashura appears in a surreal dream sequence alongside several Devilman characters brought on by the Yokai Incupuss. **In the same episode, Enma assumed a form based on the Mazinger Z called the Enmazinger. **Two Tengu characters create a large robot that resembles the Baron Ashura Mechanical Beast. **Chogokin models were mentioned a couple of times, that eventually formed their own giant robot-like toy for an episode. *'Seelen the Hunting World' features a mech that visually resembles the Mazinger Z. Other Manga/Anime *'Dragon Half' contains a couple references to the franchise including: ** A scene similar to Mazinger Z's activation pose. ** The robot girls built by Rogue Finn bear some similarities to the mechs such as Z's Rocket Punch and the Oppai Missile System. ** The character Daramramu can combine with a ship similar to Grendizer. *'Shinkon Gattai Godanner' contains a couple of shout outs to Mazinger: ** Tetsuya Koji's name comes form Tetsuya Tsurugi and Koji Kabuto. ** Anna's father voiced by Tatsuya Aoi (who voiced Koji in the anime) launches a weapon called the Z Missile. * Yaiba's villain Princess Kaguya's true form bears a striking resemblance to the Dragonsaurus. * A few episodes of Sgt. Frog referenced Mazinger such as a robot modeled after Aki Hinata using similar techniques to the robots of the franchise and an episode title based on Mazinger Z vs. Devilman. ** Keroro even gets loaded into a battle suit in a manner similar to a Pilder. *'Hayate the Combat Butler' featured a parody of Koji Kabuto as a member of the League of Dark Butlers. *Magician's Academy's Professor Frankram Stein invented a series of devices called the "Mimigar Z" which reference the Mazinger Z. **Mimigar ZZZ causes the wearer to act similar to Sayaka (her trademark tsundere behavior to be exact). *'JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 6: Stone Ocean' featured Mazinger Z flying over Florida after being made real through the Stand, Bohemian Rhapsody. * The OVA of Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai features Rika shouting out the names of various mecha series like Mazinger, Gundam, and GaoGaiGar. * Gurren Lagann featured the Spiral Army's mechs having some common characteristics with notable mecha including Mazinger and Mobile Suit Gundam. ** The Gurren Lagann gained a sunglasses-like chest plate after it was taken from its original that can be thrown like the Great Boomerang ** The Lagann model even acts similar to a Pilder for the activation of the main robot. ** Gurren Lagann's finishing move Giga Drill Break is a nod to the Thunder Break in that it was the finishing move of the big brother figures. * Garo: Honoo no Kokuin episode 15 features a medieval human power suit built by the townspeople of Santa Bard. Its design is based off the accounts of villagers who have witnessed the Legendary Knight of Light (GARO). When the armored power suit engages a man eating bear, it tries to finish the beast off with its "Secret Move", the Garo Punch. However, as this was somewhat played for comedy, the punch failed and the suit was forced to self destruct to destroy the bear. The "Garo Punch" was a parody of Mazinger Z's Rocket Punch, even doing the exact same pose the famed robot does before firing his fist. * The World Only God Knows features a chapter where Elsie is watching a mecha show that uses several features of notable series including the Rocket Punch. * In Digimon, the head of Gallantmon is based on Mazinger Z's head. ** Digimon Xros Wars features the Xros forms of Shoutmon utilize attacks similar to the mecha of the franchise such as a boomerang made from the chest emblem and attacks similar to the Breast Fire. *** Shoutmon X7 Superior Mode's Final Xros Blade is an homage to Mazinkaiser's Final Kaiser Blade *** The seven Death Generals are a throwback to the Seven Generals of the Mycenae Empire. * Yandere Kanojo has a 4-koma chapter where the phrase "Pilder On!" is used. * In Daimidaler, the three professors are named Moriko, Soriko, Sewashiko. They reference the three professors in Mazinger Z named Mori Mori, Nossori, and Sewashi. * The hit anime Kill la Kill features several references to the works of Dynamic Productions, the living uniform Senketsu bears a similar design to Mazinger Z given his black and red coloring and his eyes resembling the robot's heat sinks. * Blood Lad features several references to Mazinger with several of Staz's figures being based on the robot. * In the anime short [http://animatorexpo.com/ragnarok/ Ragnarok], the Photon Power Laboratory is seen during part of the first scenes. * My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Chapter 38 features the Mazinger High Karate Club with three of their members resembling the primary mechs: Mazinger Z, Great Mazinger, and Grendizer. Two characters based on Jim Mazinger and Koji from the Violence Jack manga are also members. Their Quirks also allow them to perform Rocket Punches. ** A civilian in the crowd in their debut panel resembles both Sayaka and Venus A. Books * In the book Ready Player One a character named Art3mis pilots Minerva X in a video game. Comics * Iron Man's armor in the Marvel Mangaverse can combine with other units to get larger and resemble a form similar to Mazinger including the use of the Iron Cutter-like Rocket Punch. * Ninja High School featured a few sporadic appearances of robots resembling the Mazinger Z and other notable Japanese mecha. A more notable appearance however was the R-X2 which resembles the Mazinger Z and Great Mazinger, possessing some of the same armor and weapons; it's pilot Joe also wears a pilot suit based on Koji Kabuto's. * The French manga tribute comic Sentaischool contains a few shout outs to the Mazinger Series: ** Duke is a spoof of Duke Fleed. ** Koji Alcor who is named after Koji Kabuto and his Goldorak name Alcor, Koji's role in Grendizer is also used in his comedic appearances. ** Duke's uncle Stratequerre is based on King Vega. * The Franco-Belgian comic Léonard le Génie features a parody to Goldorak called Leonorak. * The Italian comic Wizards of Mickey featured a robot called the Meka-bot is clearly a fusion of Great Mazinger and Grendizer, even having the same attacks. Other Television Series *In South Park season 14, episode 10 a young Mr. Makey is seen in his room with toys of the Mazinger and the Getter Dragon on the floor. *Gekisou Sentai Carranger was originally going to feature an enemy called Ballinger Z which had a similar name and appearance to Mazinger Z with a grenade theme but Toei garnered a lawsuit and the monster was only featured in promotional materials fighting against the VRV Fighters. * Megas XLR ''' features several nods to Japanese pop culture including an episode where Megas launches an Iron Cutter-like punch. In addition in one episode, a robot who bears a striking resemblance to Mazinger Z serves as the villain. * '''Sym-Biotic Titan contains elements similar to Grendizer such as alien royalty coming to Earth and a robot that can traverse outer space. * The 1970's Wonder Woman ''' series had featured toys of '''Great Mazinger, Getter Dragon '''and '''Raideen from the Shogun Warriors line. *The 2012 incarnation of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has minor nods to Mazinger Z: **Metalhead's red wings and use of a Rocket Punch. **Mikey's Room in one episode is shown to have toys that resemble Mechanical Beasts. **The robot of the in-universe TV show, Super Robo Mecha Force Five, has a "Laser Attack" which resembles the Breast Burn of Great Mazinger. *An episode of Regular Show features grown geese that assumed a form similar to Doublas M2 and baby ducks get a form that uses a Rocket Punch among other moves. *In the cartoon Steven Universe, Garnet can shoot her magic gauntlets out of her hands and when she did it the first time they came out like rockets flying out of her, mimicking the Rocket Punch. *In the cartoon Ninjago, the giant armor of Samurai X can fire its fist. * In the Powerpuff Girls episode "Knock it Off" there is a scene in Japan where two robots seem to be composites of Mazinger Z & Getter Robo. * France Five's France Robo's appearance in episode 6 is based on the launch sequence of Mazinger Z. ** France Red's seat moves in a manner similar to the controls of the Grendizer (more than likely influenced by the adaptation Goldorak). * An episode of Chuck called Chuck Versus Tom Sawyer contains a scene where a figure of Mazinger Z and Ultraman are seen. * An episode of Young Justice features a play on Mazinger Z where Superboy uses the Super Cycle to control the corrupted Infinity Man in a Pilder-like fashion. * A short sketch of the Seth Green stop motion series Robot Chicken features Mazinger and Getter Robo G. Great Mazinger also appeared in another sketch being killed by Godzilla * Loud House features a few scenes where a toy in the main character, Lincoln's room, resembles a Mazinger model (probably the Great Mazinger one). * MAD 2011 featured "Regular Shogun Warriors" That featured a parody of the afformentioned''' Regular Show"' with '"Raideen" and '''"Great Mazinger". * In Ugly Americans season 1, episode 12 features a human size robot that resembles Mazinger Z. Films *The film Pacific Rim contains several homages to some classic mecha series despite no visual similarities. The primary Jaegar Gipsy Danger possesses a cockpit that attaches to the body after the pilots dock in, rocket powered punches as well as a heat based weapon on its chest similar to Mazinger Z. **In behind the scenes promotions and interviews for the film, director Guillermo del Toro admitted that his vision of the film was based on the shows and films of his childhood, including Mazinger Z and Tetsujin-28. * The Big Hero 6 movie features a robot similar to Mazinger Z on the face of a clock in Hiro's room. ** Also, Baymax's battle armor is equipped with a gauntlet to perform a Rocket Punch called Rocket Fist. * In Tank Girl, a cartoon scene at the end of the movie had the main character wearing the costume in which she seems to have missiles in her chest, but in the cartoon scene they were real missiles and she fired them at the villain's base, parodying the Oppai Missiles. File:Mazinger_expy_clock_BH6.png|Hiro's Clock File:Rocket Fist.gif|Baymax's Rocket Fist Video Games *'God Hand' featured the eponymous artifact as a weapon that could make the user a God or a Devil, the main phrase associated with Mazinger Z. *The Mega Man franchise features a few references to Mazinger: ** Mega Man 3 features Hard Man, a Robot Master made of a tough and versatile material alloy that gives him incredible defense and can perform rocket powered punches that Mega Man can also use after defeating him. ** Mega Man 6 features a boss called Metonger Z which visually resembles Mazinger Z's head. ** Mega Man IV has a Wily Machine called Wily Robo Iron Golem that features a Pilder-like command center. ** In Mega Man and Bass when the special weapon Lightning Bolt is performed by Bass, he mimics the pose used by the Great Mazinger when using Thunder Break. ** In Megaman Battle Network Transmission, Lan Hikari's room has a poster of a robot that resembles a fusion of Mazinger and Getter Robo. * The Marvel vs. Capcom games where Megaman and Roll were featured in had Hyper Combos that when combining with Rush, Beat, and Eddie features them transforming into larger robots that resemble the Mazinger robots and Arphrodite A respectively. * In Tech Romancer '''there is a lot of references to the Mazinger Franchise. The mech Armor Knight (G)rand Kaiser not only resembles but borrow Mazinger Z's famous Rocket Punch & Breast Fire. The name and design suggest it is a parody of Mazinkaiser. The pilot, Junpei, has similar hair & attitude to Koji and also share a grandfather who built their mech who dies early in the story. Bollin is made out of junk & scrap like Boss Borot. When the Wiseduck meets Godibus (game villain) the captain, Gonzales, said "is it a god or devil?" Koji's famous words from Go's Manga. Godibus himself shares some similarities to Great General of Darkness. * '''Geppy X features a robot called Atlanger that resembles Grendizer. * The doujin game Super Cosplay War features several characters that dress up as characters from different franchises, among them the Doraemon character Gian cosplays as Mazinger Z. Baron Ashura also appears in the game. * The Wonderful 101 had a couple references to Mazinger: ** Laurence Nelson's Wonder Red costume featured an unlimited form mask that resembled the mouth grill of Mazinger Z. ** Wonder Blue suggests renaming the Platinum Robo, Platinum Majin near the end of the game which in turn comes from the Six Majin from Viewtiful Joe both of which references Mazinger robots. * Disgaea 4 features a few mechanical structures that reference some of Dynamic Productions such as Great Flozor X and Getter Mao. ** Zettai Hero Project features many references to Japanese media culture including the Jet Scrander * Mazinger's head along with Getter Dragon appear in Kevin Stoley's garage in the South Park: The Stick of Truth video game. * The mobile game General Gear features an update with a mission called "Rescue Mazinger Z" featuring mecha like Mazinger Z, Diana A, and a group of Mechanical Beasts. * The mobile game created by fans of the Dynamic Pro. robots Mediatech Game Studio, Umi Force featured Go Nagai give the protagonists jets based on the Jet Pilder, Brain Condor, and the Getter Machines of the Getter Robo G to fight against the Emperor of Darkness, Hades, his Mycenae Empire, Mechanical Beasts, and other enemies including Bong. * Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain featured the bionic arm of Venom Snake with the ability to launch from the stub of the arm like a missile, Snake even does the same pose and calls out Rocket Punch when launching. * Knights of Navalon featured a collaboration campaign where the Mazinger Z and other characters were featured. * Fishing Star featured a collaboration campaign with characters from Mazinger Z as equipment and fish with theme song singer Ichiro Mizuki providing publicity, and a special posable figure to go along with the release. * War of the Monsters has a giant robot combatant named Ultra V. It was originally made by Japanese scientists to combat giant terrorizing monsters in order to protect mankind. But because it was infused with an alien power source, the mech had run rampant. Ultra V has huge similarities with Mazinger including: the knight-like head, red wings, and shooting their fists like missiles. * '''Space Bomber: '''The Boss of the first scenario turns into a giant head that is almost identical to Mazinger. Webcomics * The webcomic Adrastus features a few similarities to Grendizer, its American dub for Force Five, and its adaptation Goldorak. ** The main character's father, Orion Cross and his sister come from another planet with a robot that somewhat resembles Grendizer and are named in a similar manner to Duke (known as Orion Quest in the US dub and Arctaurus in Goldorak) and Maria (Phencia) but with constellations rather than stars. ** Orion Cross was also found near a space institute and got a job at a ranch. * The action comedy Cyko-KO, features an arc where the main character's father built a robot called Lucky Mod Karate Bot, which visually resembles Mazinger Z (while also paying tribute to Robot Taekwon V). ** The main character Cyko-KO even spouts Tranzor Z during one of his moments. * Dungeon, Sweet Dungeon features a magic armor and battle axe based on the Grendizer made into a scarecrow. * The superhero webcomic Spinnerette features the villain Dr. Universe using a glove dubbed the Mazinger Rocket Punch Glove. References Category:Misc.